Some will say that Thursday night’s 175 rushing yards on 28 carries from D’Andre Swift proves the value of running backs. Actually, it proves the opposite.
It shows that a team can put together an effective running game without paying a lot of money to any one running back. Because there are plenty of running backs who can move the chains and gain yard, especially with the kind of holes the Eagles’ offensive line was creating on Thursday night.
That’s not intended to be a slight at Swift. It’s a difficult and demanding position to play. It requires a high degree of skill. Running backs take a pounding. It requires a cocktail of impressive attributes — strength, speed, agility, change of direction, durability, etc.
Still, plenty of quality running backs are available to each team. Every major college program has at least one, every year. A running back who can perform at the next level, if provided with sufficient blocking, if he can manage to hold onto the ball when hit by grown men, and if he can be trusted to pick up blitzers in pass protection.
Last year, Miles Sanders rushed for 1,269, averaging 4.9 yards per carry and scoring 11 touchdowns. He became a free agent. The Eagles let him walk. The Panthers gave him a four-year contract with an average value of $6.35 million per year.
The Eagles opted instead to embrace a four-headed approach at the position, with Kenneth Gainwell, D’Andre Swift, Boston Scott, and Rashaad Penny. And their cumulative cap numbers for 2023 is only $6.009 million.
Swift is in the final year of his contract. He’ll become a free agent in 2024. And someone else might offer him more than the Eagles will pay. The Eagles will be fine with that. They’ll find someone else.
That’s the reality. There’s always someone else at the running back position. Which is one of the biggest reasons why the best running backs can’t get paid.
